Paris Olympics 2024: Aman Sehrawat to play for bronze after semi-final loses, Anshu Malik out of medal contention

Aman Sehrawat will be fighting for bronze tomorrow.

India’s Aman Sehrawat went down to top seed and Rio Olympics silver medallist Rei Higuchi of Japan via technical superiority in the men’s freestyle 57kg semi-final on Thursday at Paris Olympics 2024. Aman, who started the day with two impressive wins, will next play for bronze on Friday (August 14).

Meanwhile, Anshu Malik lost to two-time Olympic medallist American Helen Maroulis in Round of 16 of women’s 57kg category. With her opponent losing in the semi-final, Anshu is now out of contention for a medal.

After suffering a number of heartbreaks in wrestling, Aman Sehrawat gave the Indian contingent a chance to cheer. He started the day with two superb wins against North Macedonian Vladimir Egorov and 2022 World Championship silver medallist Abakarov Zelimkhan in the round of 16 and quarter-final respectively.

Aman Sehrawat goes down against Rio silver medallist and top seed Rei Higuchi of Japan 🇯🇵 in the semis. 🇮🇳🤼‍♂️Aman will play for Bronze 🥉 tomorrow!#Paris2024 #wrestling pic.twitter.com/HXlHbWLGGF

— Khel Now (@KhelNow) August 8, 2024

He then had to go up against first seed Japanese Rei Higuchi. The 28-year-old’s story is one of ups and downs, having won the silver medal at the Rio Olympics 2016 but not qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. However, Higuchi has been in prime form, here at Paris.

The bout was all about the Japanese, as he barely took more than two minutes to complete it. Higuchi began with a mighty four pointer, making his intentions clear. To Aman’s credit, he defended well and didn’t concede more points.

Higuchi then managed a single leg takedown, to increase the lead to six points. Another takedown brought Aman to the brink. In fact, he now also had to prevent his shoulders from getting pinned to the ground, to avoid losing by fall. While he was successful in that, the Japanese immediately rolled him over, winning two more points and moving to 10-0, winning the bout by technical superiority.

The Indian will have another chance tomorrow to secure a podium finish, when he plays the bronze medal bout against Puerto Rican Cruz Darian Toi.

Also Read: Vinesh Phogat announces retirement from wrestling: ‘I don’t have strength, wrestling won, I lost’

Earlier in the day, he started with a relatively comfortable matchup in Vladimir Egorov to begin his campaign. Aman started with a two pointer against Egorov, with a single leg hold, which he turned into a reverse hold. A passivity warning was given to the North Macedonian. Aman, then, took Egorov out of the court, earning two more points.

With Egorov not able to win any points in his 30 second warning time, Aman earned one more point. The 21-year-old wrestler from Birohar, Haryana again took his opponent out of bounds, earning one more point, which meant he had a 6-0 lead at the end of the first period.

Aman then executed a left-leg hold and earned two more points by taking down his opponent. With two minutes remaining for the end of the bout, one more takedown with the help of a backhold, meant that the Indian wrestler had won the match 10-0 (via technical superiority).

In the quarterfinals, the Indian had a monstrous challenge in front of him, as he went up against 2022 World Championship silver medallist Abakarov Zelimkhan. The Russian born wrestler, who started representing Albania in 2021, had previously defeated Aman via technical superiority.

Aman, gold medallist in the U-23 World Championships in 2022, entered as a massive underdog, but little did we know that a sensational performance was about to follow.

Both wrestlers started a bit defensively early on and were given passivity warnings. The 30-second clock was eventually started for the Albanian. With the time having run out, Aman got the first point of the match. The match did get a bit rough in between, with the referee reprimanding both the wrestlers. Aman then got a takedown via a single leg hold. The first period ended, with the Indian leading 3-0.

The Indian, playing against a wrestler 10 years more experienced than him, had to be vary of a fightback in the second period. Abakarov lost his focus for a moment, as he tried to complain to the referee about the grip executed by Aman.

The 21-year-old pounced on this opportunity and attacked the Albanian’s legs, earning two more points. He then rotated him thrice, taking the lead to 11-0. Abakarov took a challenge to check if the third rotation was completed. It was unsuccessful and the Albanian lost a challenge and one more point, with the bout ending 12-0 via technical superiority, in favour of the Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist.

Also Read: All medals won by India in wrestling at Summer Olympics

Unseeded Anshu Malik, however, was unable to overcome a gigantic challenge upfront in the round of 16, as she went up against fifth seed American Helen Maroulis. Maroulis had won the gold medal at the 2016 Rio in the 53kg category, before moving up by four kilos. She then won the bronze medal at the Tokyo. The American is also a three-time gold medal winner at the World Championships.

Both wrestlers started off with some intent. However, it was Maroulis who drew first blood, earning two points for a takedown. Anshu, then, defended well and didn’t concede more going into the interval, and thus continued to have an outside chance.

🇮🇳 India's Anshu Malik goes down 7️⃣-2️⃣ against two-time Olympic medalist Helen Maroulis of America 🇺🇸 in the Round of 16 💔#Paris2024 #Paris #OlympicGames #Olympic2024 #OlympicGamesParis2024 pic.twitter.com/binZutKrtj

— Khel Now (@KhelNow) August 8, 2024

At the second period, Anshu kept defending hard and was given a warning for passivity. The two-time Olympic medallist, then, changed directions well and executed a single leg attack, earning two points. She earned two more, by rotating Anshu.

The 23-year-old wrestler from Nidani, Haryana got her first point of the match, by pushing the American out of the yellow zone. Maroulis then got a yellow card warning, giving Anshu her second point. The Indian tried to attack hard and reduce the deficit, but the American’s defence was world-class.

Maroulis then executed the one-legged attack once again, but this time held onto Anshu’s leg for a longer duration, in order to waste time and eventually got one point by pushing her out. Anshu was unable to make any significant move and the score, after the end of six minutes, showed 7-2 in favour of Maroulis.

The American, though, lost 4-10 to Japanese first seed Tsugumi Sakurai in the semifinal. This means that Anshu won’t be able to stake claim for a bronze medal via repechage and her campaign at the Paris Olympics 2024 is over.

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